Hotels and restaurants in South Delhi will allow women and children to use their toilets for free from Monday.

The initiative has been started by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) as part of its efforts to promote the Swachh Bharat campaign.

The move had been proposed by the municipal body in February and was supposed to be implemented in April. It however got delayed due to municipal elections.

"But, because of MCD elections, the code of conduct had come into place, so we never officially announced the policy. Hotel and restaurants which allowed people to use their facilities did it out of goodwill. From tomorrow, the new policy will officially come into force," a senior SDMC official told PTI on Sunday.

The South Delhi area has several big markets like Sarojini Nagar Market, Amar Colony Market and Dilli Haat, and this initiative will come as a huge relief for women shoppers as finding clean public toilets may not always be possible.

The PTI report states that 3,500 more toilets will now be accessible to the public.

The Restaurants Association of India has also welcomed the move, The Times of India reported.

"We stand for the dignity of women. The lack of sufficient number of public toilets in marketplaces has them tolerate pain. We will allow all women and children to use our facilities," Riyaaz Amlani, president of the Restaurants Association of India, told ToI.

While all women and children can use the toilets in hotels and restaurants unconditionally, the establishments can take a call on barring people if there are security concerns.

The SDMC will also review the move over the next few months and take into consideration feedback given by the restaurant and hotel owners.